---
title: Continuous Testing Settings
description: Datadog, the leading service for cloud-scale monitoring.
breadcrumbs: Docs > Continuous Testing > Continuous Testing Settings
---

# Continuous Testing Settings

## Overview{% #overview %}

You can access Continuous Testing settings on the [Synthetic Monitoring & Testing Settings page](https://docs.datadoghq.com/synthetics/settings.md).

{% image
   source="https://docs.dd-static.net/images/continuous_testing/settings/parallelization_2.d62010cc7e45edae5326686400108a4f.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850 1x, https://docs.dd-static.net/images/continuous_testing/settings/parallelization_2.d62010cc7e45edae5326686400108a4f.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850&dpr=2 2x"
   alt="Set parallelization for your Continuous Testing tests on the Settings page" /%}

By default, all your tests running in CI/CD pipelines run sequentially (one after the other). To change this behavior, set a parallelization value and save your selection.

## Parallelization{% #parallelization %}

Parallel tests are tests that run simultaneously in your [continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines](https://docs.datadoghq.com/continuous_testing/cicd_integrations.md).

{% image
   source="https://docs.dd-static.net/images/continuous_testing/parallelization_explained.655bbc293142ea107a8963afa682b6ea.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850 1x, https://docs.dd-static.net/images/continuous_testing/parallelization_explained.655bbc293142ea107a8963afa682b6ea.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850&dpr=2 2x"
   alt="A diagram that explains the benefits of parallelization vs. sequential test runs" /%}

Use parallelization to:

- Reduce pipeline duration and ship new features faster
- Increase development confidence and speed of delivery
- Have complete test coverage and reduce the volume of production-breaking bugs from reaching your codebase

### Estimate parallelization{% #estimate-parallelization %}

Click Estimate Parallelization to see how many tests Datadog recommends running in parallel based on your [Continuous Testing metrics](https://docs.datadoghq.com/synthetics/metrics.md#continuous-testing).

{% image
   source="https://docs.dd-static.net/images/continuous_testing/settings/estimated_parallelization_2.7a77570f14969e47e843c6c7dd881f8b.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850 1x, https://docs.dd-static.net/images/continuous_testing/settings/estimated_parallelization_2.7a77570f14969e47e843c6c7dd881f8b.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850&dpr=2 2x"
   alt="Completing the Estimate Parallelization wizard in Continuous Testing Settings" /%}

After specifying the expected duration for testing in your CI pipeline and, optionally, the average number of tests per CI batch, the Estimated Parallelization section calculates the amount of parallelization you want to set:

$$\text"estimated parallelization" = {\text"average numbers of tests per CI batch" * \text"average test duration"} / \text"expected duration in your CI pipeline"$$

### Set parallelization{% #set-parallelization %}

1. Under Set your preferences, select the Parallelization option.
1. Customize the parallelization you need based on how many tests you want to run in parallel.
1. Click Save Selection.
1. Confirm your selection.

{% image
   source="https://docs.dd-static.net/images/continuous_testing/settings/parallelization.92597a9358f2f264d21398e013d5759a.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850 1x, https://docs.dd-static.net/images/continuous_testing/settings/parallelization.92597a9358f2f264d21398e013d5759a.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850&dpr=2 2x"
   alt="Parallelization settings for 25 parallel Continuous Testing test runs" /%}

## Permissions{% #permissions %}

In order to customize the parallelization for Continuous Testing, you must have the `billing_edit` permission.

Otherwise, the following error displays: `You're missing edit permission for Continuous Testing settings. You can run your tests with a parallelization of X (up to X tests running at the same time at a given point during your CI). To increase this value, reach out to your administrator admin.email@datadoghq.com`.

For more information, see [Datadog Role Permissions](https://docs.datadoghq.com/account_management/rbac/permissions.md#billing-and-usage).

## Further reading{% #further-reading %}

- [Integrate your Continuous Testing tests in your CI/CD pipelines](https://docs.datadoghq.com/continuous_testing/cicd_integrations.md)
- [Configure an API Test](https://docs.datadoghq.com/synthetics/api_tests.md)
- [Configure a Browser Test](https://docs.datadoghq.com/synthetics/browser_tests.md)
- [Configure a Mobile App Test](https://docs.datadoghq.com/mobile_app_testing/mobile_app_tests.md)
- [Explore RUM & Session Replay in Synthetics](https://docs.datadoghq.com/synthetics/guide/explore-rum-through-synthetics.md)
- [Create and manage tests with Terraform](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/DataDog/datadog/latest/docs/resources/synthetics_test)